F 

VsTc 



A Memorial Tablet 
at Ticondero 



a 



The Landing 
on *' The Grand Portage" 




TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1910 



A MEMORIAL TABLET 

AT 

TICONDEROGA 



THIS TABLET MARKS THE LANDING FOR THE 
GRAND CARRY ON THE GREAT WAR TRAIL BETWEEN 
THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH 
COUNTRY. IT ALSO MARKS THE BEGINNING OF 
THAT CARRY BETWEEN THE LAKES, TO AVOID THE 
FALLS AND RAPIDS, WHICH LATER BECAME THE 
MILITARY ROAD BUILT BY THE FRENCH IN 1755. 

THE FRENCH SAW MILL, THE FIRST EVER BUILT 
IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY, WAS ERECTED IN 1756 
AT THE FOOT OF THE FALLS ON THE SITE OF THE 
PRESENT MILLS. IN THIS SAW MILL ABERCROMBY 
HAD HIS HEADQUARTERS DURING HIS DISASTROUS 
BATTLE WITH MONTCALM'S FORCES AT THE 
FRENCH LINES JULY 8, 1758. 

WASHINGTON AND FRANKLIN PASSED OVER THIS 
MILITARY ROAD DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

PRESENTED TO THE TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN BY THE 
TICONDEROGA PULP & PAPER COMPANY. 

UNVEILED BY THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL 
ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 4, 1910. 



Inscription on Tablet 



A MEMORIAL 
TABLET 

AT 

TICONDEROGA 



A 

CORPORATION'S 

GIFT 

TO HISTORY 



Reprinted by the 
TICONDEROGA PULP AJND PAPER CO. 

By permission of 
TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 






Copyright, 191 i, by 

TiCONDEROGA HISTORICAL SoCIETY 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



1CI.A2S0973 






PREFATORY NOTE 



<-> There has never been but the one Ticonderoga in tlie 
|\m)rld. 

^ Tliere has never been, and there never will be, but the 
one Ticonderoga in history. 

Most ol the towns and villages in this land have some- 
where a counterpart, somewhere a town or village that in 
some physical respect is similar. 

Ticonderoga has none, and on this continent she has 
no peer in the wealth of her historic renown. 

That this should breed a patriotic pride, a historic 
appreciation of the wonderful record of the past attaching 
to the name of Ticonderoga in its citizens, as individuals 
and corporations, is therefore not strange. 

That in the fulness of years it has ripened into this 
logical result, is evidenced by these generous gifts that are 
marking in stone and bronze and granite the localities in 
and about the old town where history of such importance 
was made, as to make the record thereof a nation's heritage. 

That the citizens of Ticonderoga, both in their individ- 
ual and corporate capacities, have recognized their steward- 
ship of a nation's history in this town, is a matter of 
just pride on the part of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, 
and to commemorate the presentation to it, in trust, of the 
bronze tablet giving in detail the history connected with 
the landing on the "Grand Portage," it publishes this 
booklet. 

If it shall bring to the mind of some patriotic citizen 
somewhere in this country the necessity of marking one 

[7] 



PREFATORY NOTE 



more spot made memorable in our history, so that its 
record may endure after tradition lades, its purpose will 
have heen accomplished; for it is the history of the nation 
and the knowledge of that history that, in the final analysis, 
will preserve the nation, by the patriotism it will engender 
in this and future generations. 

TICOWDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

By Dr. W'm. a. E. Cummings, Pres. 



PROGRAM 



Presentation of Tablet 

TO 

Ticoncleroga Historical Society 

BY 

The Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper Company 

Tuesday, /i.oo p.m., October /[th, 1910 
Special train to Ticonderoga village 



PROGRAM 
William Wallace Jeffers, Chairman 

Invocation, Rev. Loyal A. Bigelow 

Presentation address by Hon. Clayton H. DeLano 

L'nveiling by New York State Historical Association 

Represented by 

Mrs. Sherman Williams 
Mrs. Frederick B. Richards 

Singing, " Star Spangled Banner 

Led by 

Mrs. George Stephenson Bixby 

of the Mary Washington Chapter, Daughters of the American RevoUition 

Acceptance by Dr. W. A. E. Gummings 

Singing, "America," led by Mrs. George S. Bixby 

[9] 



INVOCATION 
By Rkv. loyal a. 1VI(;EL0W 



Almighty (lod, we bring unto Tliee our thanks that 
Thou art tlie Clod of individuals and of nations. We 
thank Thee that through all the events of human history, 
in the midst of the great deeds and remarkable events of 
the past Thou hast directed, and in a large w^ay, for the 
general good, hast overruled and controlled the activities 
of men and the movements of tlie human family, ^^'e 
thank Thee for the formation of societies such as hold 
these exercises to-day to perpetuate the memory of the 
great deeds of the past. We thank Thee that it is in the 
minds of men to erect memorials to render permanent 
the record. We pray Thy blessing upon these organiza- 
tions ; and we pray that when the school children of to-day , 
who shall be the men and women of to-morrow, the 
fathers and mothers, the law givers, the judges, the states- 
men, the presidents of the future, shall ask the meaning 
of these memorial tablets, we may be enabled so to instruct 
them as that their patriotism may be more intense and 
their usefulness as citizens greatly increased. And unto 
Thee, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and 
forever. Amen. 





THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 

BY 

HON. CLAYTON H. DE LANO 



Mr. President, Members of the Historical Society, Citizens 

of Ticonderoga : 

It is a common saying that "history repeats itself," 
that is, given similar conditions, issues, antagonizing forces, 
and environment, similar results will undoubtedly follow ; 
but if so, shall we again find all the conditions and forces 
that made memorable this spot, antedating by many years 
the American Revolution, and culminating with tliat his- 
toric event? Where else on this or any otlior continent 
have two nations of red men and three nations of white 
men contended for supremacy on the same ground, and 
consecrated with their blood the same historic field of battle? 

This is to-day, and always was, a beautiful section of 
our country, as fashioned by the Creative Hand, and 
should be forever dedicated to the arts of peace ; but its 
topography was such that through this narrow valley, 
with Mount Defiance on the one hand and the foot-hills 
of the Adirondacks on the other, must pass the dijlerent 
tribes of the two great Indian families, the Iroquois and 
the Algonquins, as well as the Rangers of Rogers. Putnam, 

["] 



THE PRESENTATIO\ ADDRESS 



and Stark, and the trained soldiery of Abercromby, 
Amherst, and Montcahn, 

The Iroquois — or the Five Nations, as they are often 
called in history — embraced the Mohawk, Oneida, Onon- 
daga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes ; and later the Tuscaroras 
were added to their number, making six tribes banded to- 
gether for mutual protection and conquest. They were 
noted among all the Indian nations as foremost in war, 
eloquence, and native diplomacy ; they were haughty, over- 
bearing, and domineering. They were the original New 
Yorkers, as their home was principally within the limits 
of that territory which afterwards became the Empire 
State of the Union. Their pride was as lofty as the 
mountains of their native land. They called themselves 
' ' the men surpassing all others." We are told that although 
at the stage of their greatest prosperity they had no more 
than four thousand warriors, yet such was their warlike 
spirit that they overran the whole land east of the 
Mississippi, carrying terror, torture, and death to whatever 
tribe opposed them. 

Their principal village was in the Onondaga valley, 
where they had a council house, in which representatives 
of tlie dill'erent tribes composing the nation assembled at 
the call of their chiefs, to decide upon incursions into the 
enemies' country, or determine the fate of prisoners taken 
by stratagem or in battle. Their forays into the land of the 
Algonquins Avere so successful that many of the tribes of 
that nation paid tribute to their conquerors, and their 
warriors were by the Iroquois designated "women," which 
expressed the supreme contempt of the Indian for any who 
would not fight with courage or meet death by the most 
cruel torture with stoical indifference. 

I have recounted thus briefly the history and some 
of the noted characteristics of the Iroquois, that Ave may 
gather some idea of the character of the people who, for 
how many centuries we knoAV not, dominated this land 
and passed to and fro through this valley in their in- 

[13] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



cursions into Canada to fight their enemy, the Algonquins, 
before the advent of the wliite man gave them a sturdier 
foe, and changed the wilderness into cultivated fields and 
the Indian villages into teeming cities and prosperous towns. 

Here w ere their war-path and hunting trail ; here at the 
foot of these falls tliey launched their rude canoes to traverse 
the waters of the great lake, long before Champlain had 
given it a name, and probably long before a white man 
had discovered any part of the American continent. 

What is more natural than that, when the white man did 
appear, to dispute Avith the aborigine his title to the land, 
he should follow Indian trails in opening military roads 
through the dense forests ? So we find the landing-place 
of the Indians at the foot of these falls, and the carry from 
there to Lake George became the military road traversed 
by the armies of France, England, and the Colonies and 
over which their bateaux were carried from lake to lake. 

More than a century and a half has elapsed since the 
construction of that road, yet its location at some points can 
be traced to-day. Commencing at the foot of these falls, 
its Lake George terminal was just at the rocky barrier at 
the foot of the lake known to-day as the " Rapids," which 
at that time did not allow the passage of a boat except at 
seasons of high water. The boat channels you find there 
now have been made by mill-owners on the Upper Falls 
within the last one hundred years for the purpose of float- 
ing logs to their mills. There was a small fortified camp 
at this place, located in all probability on the rising ground 
just this side of where Joseph Joubert now lives. This 
has been a fertile field for relics of colonial Avars for many 
years ; those which Mr. Joubert has found and retains he 
will very kindly show to interested parties, and they are 
well worth a visit to his place. Another fortified camp was 
located on the west shore opposite, and another not far 
from the place known as Howe's Landing, while a battery 
above the rapids protected the road and camps. 

It was by this road and crossing that the forces of Aber- 

[i3] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



cromby, after the untimely death of Lord Howe, marched 
on their way to the investment of Carillon. Preparatory 
to this, he despatched Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet, with 
one regiment of regulars, six companies of royal Americans, 
and a body of Rangers, to take possession of the French 
camp and saAv-mill located there, which had been abandoned 
by Montcalm the day before. This saw-mill was located 
at the foot of these falls, but as the ground below 
and to the south Avas much broken by deep ravines 
and wholly unsuitable for the encaiupment of an army of 
several thousand men, we must and do assume that the 
fortified camp occupied by Montcalm was located on the 
only level ground available, which was in the bend of the 
river above the falls, where is now located the business 
part of the village of Ticonderoga, just at the left of the 
tablet we are gathered to unveil to-day, Avhile the saw-mill 
and carry were at the right, and the approach to the bridge 
over the stream was directly in front. 

It was here, at this saw-mill and in this fortified camp, 
abandoned by the French for a better position, that Aber- 
cromby on the evening of July 7, 1768, concentrated his 
army of fourteen thousand men. It was here that he 
awaited Avith high hopes the advent of the morning of July 
8, when at early daAvn his forces began their march to attack 
the French, Avho awaited them behind their hastily con- 
structed fortification on the high ground a short distance 
north of Fort Carillon, — an encounter that ended in humil- 
iating defeat for Abercromby and his army. That evening 
they began their retreat by the same route over which they 
had marched in the morning, crossed again the bridge at 
the head of the falls, which Bradstreet had rebuilt after its 
destruction by Montcalm, continued their retreat past the 
location of this tablet up over the old military road to Lake 
George, where they embarked on their way to Albany, the 
starting-point of the expedition. 

While historians agree that the French commenced in 
1 766 a saw-mill at the first fall on the outlet of Lake George 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



as you pass up the stream from Lake Champlain about two 
miles, tliey do not state with accuracy upon which bank of 
tlie stream the mill was located ; but in the second volume 
of a voluminous history of Canada by William Kingsford 
may be found a map made at an early date, showing this 
mill to have been at the foot of these falls on the south 
side of the stream, where are now located the paper-mills, 
not far from where this commemorative tablet has been 
placed. Then we must consider that the natural site for 
such a mill would be at the landing for boats where navi- 
gation ended and the carry to Lake George began. 

The building of Fort Carillon was commenced in lySS, 
and this mill was for the purpose of sawing lumber for 
bateaux and material to be used in the construction of the 
fort and for housing the troops engaged in its defence, 
this fort being the last fortified outpost of France on the 
?'• at highway of traffic and travel between the Canadian 
and American Colonies. Although France had numerous 
fortifications on the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes, and 
farther in the interior (as she then claimed all the territory 
west of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio), yet her claims 
in this direction ended at Ticonderoga, and Forts Carillon 
and St. Frederick were her principal defences on Lake 
Champlain. 

St. Frederick had been built in 1781, but Carillon was 
not begun until twenty-four years afterward and was com- 
pleted in 1757. It was constructed entirely of wood, and, 
though occupying about the same ground, should not be 
confounded with the English fort afterward constructed, 
of which you see the ruins to-day. 

Before the erection of Carillon the American Rangers 
under Putnam and Rogers found four fortified camps along 
the old Indian trail in the valley between Lakes George 
and Champlain for its protection. They were often pass- 
ing this way on foraging expeditions against the French at 
Crown Point, with scouting parties to harass the enemy 
and gain information for the benefit of the Colonies and the 

[i5] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



mother country, as England for mucli of the time was 
at war witli France and coveted her American possessions. 
These expeditions often caused great hardship to the 
Rangers and were not always attended with favorable results. 

It is related that, as late as the midwinter of 1 767, Rogers 
and his Rangers in one of these expeditions captured two 
French soldiers and butchered some fifteen head of cattle 
close to Fort Carillon, and tied to the horns of one of them 
a note addressed to the officer in charge of the fort in 
these terms: " I am obliged to you. Sir, for the rest you 
have allowed me to take and the fresh meat you have sent 
me. I shall lake good care of my prisoners. My compli- 
ments to the Marquis of Montcalm. Rogers." 

It is worthy of note here that there was a trail back of 
Rogers Rock Mountain, commencing at Cook's Bay and 
running doAvn through Trout Brook or Lord Howe Valley, 
terminating at the falls here. Over this trail Rogers and 
his Rangers often passed, and once, after having suffered 
defeat with serious loss at the hands of the French and 
their Indian allies, the remnant of his band escaped by this 
trail to Lake George and safety. Whatever may have been 
Rogers' faults, cowardice Avas not one of them ; and what 
more fitting monument could he have than the massive 
rock that bears his name, near the foot of the lake that 
often carried him and his Rangers on its peaceful bosom ? 

The battle of Yorktown, the defeat and the surrender 
of Gornwallis, had practically closed the war of the Revo- 
lution in 1 78 1. Peace negotiations were dragging slowly 
along, when General Washington urged upon Congress the 
disbandment of the army, and his OAvn retirement to a 
coveted private life, after eight years of incessant effort 
and anxiety as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the 
new-born Republic. 

The British army, humiliated by defeat, was preparing 
to embark at New York and abandon all further effort to sub- 
jugate Great Britain's rebellious Colonies. Pending this 
event, which did not take place until November 25, 1788, 

[16] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



Washington decided to inspect the fortifications along the 
northern frontiers of the country, none of which he had 
ever visited; so, on the i6th of July, 1788, he wrote to 
the President of Congress as follows : "I have resolved 
to wear away a little time in performing a tour to the 
northward as far as Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and 
perliaps as far up the Mohawk as Fort Schuyler. I 
shall leave this place on Friday next, and shall probahly 
he gone about two weeks." He also wrote on the i5th to 
Philip Schuyler : 

' ' I have entertained a great desire to see the northern 
part of tliis State before I returned to the Southward. 
The present irksome interval, while we are Avaiting for the 
definitive treaty, affords an opportunity of gratifying this 
inclination. I have therefore concerted with Governor 
Clinton to make a tour to reconnoitre those places where 
the most remarkable posts were established, and the 
ground Avhich became famous as the theatre of action in 
1777. Mr. Damler, assistant Quartermaster-General, pre- 
cedes us to make arrangements, and particularly to have 
some light boats provided and transported to Lake George, 
that we may not be delayed on our arrival there." 

To carry out his intentions, he left his headquarters at 
Newburgh, New York, on the morning of July 18, and 
sailing up the Hudson, in company with Governor Clinton, 
passed Albany and the old village of Saratoga to Fort 
Edward, where Fort Lyman was located, and where Avater 
navigation on the Hudson terminated and the carry to 
Lake George began. Prior to 1755 there was only an 
Indian trail to this beautiful lake, but in the month of 
August of that year General, afterwards Sir, William 
Johnson, with a body of regulars, colonial troops, and 
Indians, wishing to reach the lake with his Avagon train 
in an expedition against the French, sent a gang of 
axe-men to cut a road through the wilderness, over 
which his Avagons and army, on the 26th of the month, 
commenced a laborious passage ; and so rough was the 

[17] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



road that only at tlie end of two days did he succeed in 
reaching the lake, fourteen miles distant from Fort Edward. 

It was twenty-eight years after this event that Wash- 
ington journeyed over the same road. As it had heen in 
almost constant use for that period by the armies of Great 
Britain, the Colonies, and their Indian allies, it was probably 
in much better condition than when Johnson hewed his 
way here through the forests. Having reached the lake, 
Washington and his companions embarked on its waters 
for Ticonderoga, and about the 20th of July, 1788, one 
hundred and twenty-seven years ago, he reached this 
even then historic place. 

Washington s own account of this trip is very meagre 
indeed, but as his journey to Grown Point was undoubtedly 
by water, after passing over the old military road between 
the two lakes, he must have embarked at the foot of the 
falls, near where we now stand, and having inspected the 
fortifications around Avhich so many important events then 
clustered, proceeded on his way to inspect Fort Amherst, 
at Grown Point, the end of his journey in this direction. 

I find nothing definite as to his return trip until he 
reached Saratoga, Avhen he decided to visit the springs in 
that town, at that time only two in number, known as 
High Rock and Flat Rock Springs, and located where the 
village of Saratoga Springs now stands. So pleased were 
he and Governor Glinton with the Avater, and so impressed 
with its value, that they decided to jointly purchase the 
High Rock Spring and tlie land surrounding it. It Avas 
left for Governor Clinton to secure the property, but on 
investigation it was found that some members of the then 
prominent Livingston family had already purchased it ; 
so Washington did not become an owner of this coveted 
spring, or a land-owner in the State of New York. 

He continued his journey, passing up the Mohawk by 
boat and carry as far as Fort Sclmyler. At this time there 
was a good wagon road from Albany to Schenectady, but 
from that point on the journey was bv bateaux, or ilat- 

" [,8] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



bottom boats managed by two men, called bateaux men. 
While they used oars to propel the boat in deep water, in 
many places it was so shallow that they were obliged to use 
setting poles, and past the carrying-places the boats were 
hauled by settlers' teams on sledges. Washington, having 
reached Fort Schuyler, returned to Albany, arriving there 
August Ix, and at jNewburgh the next day in the afternoon, 
just nineteen days from the time of his departure, — a trii) 
that now could be made leisurely in about four days. 

The next day, the 6th of August, he wrote to James 
McHenry, in reply to a communication received from that 
gentleman, as follows : " After a tour of seven hundred 
and fifty miles performed in nineteen days, I returned to 
this place yesterday afternoon, where I found your favor 
of the 3 1st ultimo, intimating a resolution of Congress 
for calling me to Princeton, partly, as it would seem, on 
my own account, and partly for the purpose of giving 
aid to Congress." He proceeded to Princeton, where 
he received the thanks of Congress, through the President 
of that body, for the conspicuous part he had taken in 
prosecuting to a successful issue the war of the Revolu- 
tion and founding on the American continent what has 
proved to be an enduring Republic. 

Let us now consider another important event connected 
with the early history of this locality. 

Benjamin Franklin was born in the city of Boston, 
of well-to-do parents, January 6, 1708. Not really 
satisfied with the work his relatives found for him to do, 
he started out early in life to seek fame and fortune. 
This brought him to the city of Philadelphia, which he 
reached by boat on the Delaware River, a body of Avater 
made memorable by the crossing of Washington many 
years afterward. Franklin himself relates that, on land- 
ing in tlie city, he purchased three loaves, or rolls, of 
bread, and with one under each arm and eating the 
third as he walked, he passed up one of the principal 
streets in the city of "Brotherly Love ' in search of 

[19] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



employment. This he readily found, and the city became 
liis home, where he attained tlie fame and secured the 
fortune of his early ambition, and where tieath closed his 
memorable career years afterward. 

To be sure, you may say that since that time many 
a young man has started out in life witli just as many 
arms as Franklin had, but fewer loaves of bread and 
less influential friends, and still achieved wealth and dis- 
tinction. However this may be, at the breaking out of 
the war between the Colonies and the motlier country, 
Franklin bore a conspicuous part in the momentous 
struggle thus begun. 

He was then sixty-eight years of age, a statesman, 
philosopher, and diplomat, a man of great learning, 
ability, and influence in the Colonies ; so to no one else 
could Congress more readily turn to carry on delicate 
and important negotiations with the adjoining province of 
Canada, looking to the co-operation of that country in the 
endeavor to secure freedom from a rule that had become 
intolerable. 

From the very commencement of the struggle of the 
Colonies for their independence, eflbrts had frequently 
been made to induce the Canadians to join in it, and to send 
delegates to the American Congress. At this time a large 
part of Canada Avas occupied by American troops. To 
further this hope of the assistance of Canada and its 
final union with the Colonies, Congress appointed com- 
missioners to proceed to that country Avith full powers to 
bring about such a result. The commissioners appointed 
were Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles 
Carroll. They left Philadelphia on their mission about 
March 20, 1776, passing through Ticonderoga, embarking 
here at the foot of these falls, April 21, following; but, 
encountering much broken ice in Lake Champlain, they 
did not reacli Montreal until the end of the month, having 
been over six weeks on their journey from Philadelphia 
to that city. Much of the way the roads were almost 

\20] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



impassable, and the water navigation slow and dangerous. 
Notwithstanding its hardships and the great ability of the 
commissioners, this mission was a failure. To Franklin, 
advanced in years and somewhat impaired in health, 
the journey had proved a very trying one, but he arrived 
in Philadelphia early in the following June, about three 
months from the date of his departure. It is to this 
mission, however, that we owe the presence of Franklin 
here in 1776, thus early in the war of the Revolution, and 
can inscribe that fact on this memorial tablet. 

I have thus briefly called to your attention some of 
the events that have made famous the name Ticonderoga. 
May this tablet, erected on this historic spot, commemorat- 
ing these events, be an inspiration to the youth of the town 
through all future generations, creating in them a greater 
love for the land made memorable by the heroic deeds 
of the fathers, and through that example inspiring in 
them a loftier patriotism, higher ideals concerning their 
civic duties, and broader conceptions of their own relations 
to society and government. May it teach them that 
living for self alone is a low, meagre, unsatisfying life, 
that the true patriot and loyal citizen rises above and 
despises the petty thievery and larger graft of the self- 
seeking individual who lives that he may plunder, not 
serve, the state. 

As our children and our children's children read the 
inscription on this tablet, may they understand its full 
significance ; may they appreciate how appropriate it is 
that it should be placed at tliis particular point, com- 
memorating, as it does, so many stirring events and history- 
making achievements 1 

Here were the hunting trail and war-path of the most 
powerful of Indian tribes. Here passed and repassed the 
armies of France and Great Britain, as well as the sturdy 
soldiers and Rangers of the Colonies. Here waved in the 
breeze, both in peace and Avar, the lilies of France and 
the cross of St. George, to be supplanted ultimately 

[3,] 



THE PRESENTATION ADDRESS 



and forever l)y tlie star-gemmcd banner of our own 
Republic . 

Here Washington and Franklin embarked on their 
missions of inspection and diplomacy. Here stood 
Rogers, Putnam, and Stark, Abercromby, Amherst, and 
Montcalm, conspicuous figures and important factors in 
the struggle that preceded the subjugation of the wilder- 
ness and led up to the founding here of a Republic which 
Avas to become a refuge for the oppressed of every land 
and clime. 

Stephen A. Douglas once said of his native State, "It is 
a good State to be born in, provided you emigrate early." 
While this may or may not have been an exact statement 
of fact, we do not hesitate to say and feel that it is appro- 
priate to say here and now, — that Ticonderoga is not 
only a good town to be born in, but it is a good town to 
live in. Yet, while we have a pride in our own town, 
while we cherish the memories of past events that, like 
a galaxy of stars, cluster around her history and make 
this hallowed ground, let us not forget the lessons they 
should teach, — that, while the past may be secure, while its 
history may be resplendent with heroic deeds, the present 
is in our care, the future is Avhat we may help to make it, 
and just as we are faithful to our trust, just as we grasp 
the unrivalled opportunities of our day and generation, 
shall we be worthy of the age in which we live, as well 
as worthy of the history this tablet commemorates. 

NoAv, Mr. President, on behalf of the Ticonderoga 
Pulp and Paper Company, through its officers and direct- 
ors, I am requested to present to your Society and the 
citizens of Ticonderoga this memorial tablet. This has 
been to me a pleasant duty, and in committing this 
memorial to your care I am sure it is being placed in 
safe and apjDreciative hands. 



[.2] 




THE UNVEILING 

By the New York State Historical Associatigx, Represented by 
Mrs. Sherman Williams, Mrs. Frederick. B. Richards 



THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER 



MRS. GEORGE STEPHENSON BIXBY 

Of The Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, Daughters 
OF the Amebichn Revolution 



Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming ; 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight. 

O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming? 
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air. 

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. 
Oh say, does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? 

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep. 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. 
What is that which the breeze o'er the towering sleep. 

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. 
In full glory, reflected, now shines on the stream, 
'Tis the Star Spangled Banner; O long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

O ! thus be it ever, when freeman shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the w ars desolation ; 
Blest with vict'ry and peace may the Heav'n rescued land 

Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, when our cause is so just. 
And this be our motto, — " In God is our trust." 
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 



24] 



ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE 

BY 

DR. WILLIAM A. E. CUMMINGS 

PRESIDENT TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



Mr. DeLano, Members of the New York Stale Historical 

Association and of the Ticonderoga Historical Society ; 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

In accepting from this public-spirited corporation, the 
Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper Company, this beautiful tablet, 
so generously given to our Historical Society, in trust, for 
the citizens of this historic old town, and so graciously 
unveiled, by the New York State Historical Association, I 
wish to mention the especial fitness of the selection by 
this Corporation of our honored townsman, Mr. Clayton 
H. DeLano, to make this presentation. 

It was the initiative and courage of this loyal son of 
Old Ticonderoga that first gave to our town the possibilities 
that have ripened into this magnificent modern plant that 
now occupies this site, made memorable by the enactment 
thereon of the early events in our country's history recorded 
here in enduring bronze and everlasting granite, through 
the civic pride and corporate patriotism of the present 
management of this great industrial enterprise, which 
Mr. DeLano has so happily represented here to-day. 

It is a matter for sincere congratulation on the part of 
every citizen of Old Ticonderoga that they have in control 
of two of the town's greatest industries, corporations w hose 

[25] 



ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE 



appreciation of the importance of the early history of this 
locahty is so just, and whose pubHc spirit is so generously 
responsive to the hour, as are tlie Ticonderoga Pulp &. 
Paper Company and the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, 
as evidenced by the tablets they have erected to perpetuate 
our historic records and renown. 

In these records and in this honorable renown here 
recorded and yet to be recorded by future tablets, the 
citizens of this interesting old town have a priceless herit- 
age, the real value of which was by none more keenly 
appreciated than by one who must be with us in spirit this 
afternoon, and who must see in these generous responses 
to historic appeal, the fruition of the seed he planted 
through years of discouraging indiiference, when on only 
a few, and largely on himself, fell the cost and labor of 
marking our historic points of interest, and keeping alive 
the smoldering embers of a local pride in our heroes and 
their heroism, that should lift our citizenship up to the 
level of our hills in all the civic virtues. 

Mr. DeLano, the Ticonderoga Historical Society ac- 
cepts this tablet from your corporation, at your hand, Avith 
sincere appreciation of the jDatriotic spirit in which it is 
given and of its great value to the historic interest of our 
town, and we thank you, and, through you, your asso- 
ciates, most heartily, for this generous gift. 

Members of the New York State Historical Association, 
it is and ever Avill be a source of great pleasure to our 
historical society that it has been honored by your presence 
and participation in the ceremonies of this afternoon, and 
that the names of these two organizations, Avorking at all 
times for a common purpose, are thus happily joined on 

this tablet here. 

[26I 



ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE 



Fellow members of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, 
fellow citizens of this old tOAvn with such a glorious his- 
tory, Avhile this tablet may ever mark, as it will, the 
records of the past, it will fail in its prime purpose if it 
does not inspire each one of us to a more patriotic love of 
our town, our state, and our country. 

It will fail in the full measure of its usefulness if it 
does not lead us to higher ideals and a more just appre- 
ciation and fulfillment of our duties as citizens of Old 
Ticonderoga. 

Ladies and gentlemen, in closing, I thank you for your 
presence and kind attention, and I move a rising vote of 
thanks to Mr. DeLano, to Mr. C. E. Bush, the treasurer and 
general manager of the Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper Company, 
and the corporation they represent, for this generous gift, 
and the courtesies they have extended us to-day. 



27 



AMERICA 



BY THE ASSEMBLAGE 

LED BY 

MRS. GEORGE STEPHENSON BIXBY 



My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrim's pride; 
From every mountain side. 

Let freedom ring. 

Let music swell the breeze. 
And ring from all the trees 

Sweet freedom's song ; 
Let mortal tongues awake ; 
Let all that breathe partake ; 
Let rocks their silence break — 

The soimd prolong. 

Our father's God, to thee, 
Author of liberty. 

To thee we sing ; 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light : 
Protect us by thy might. 

Great God, our King. 



38 




Fort Tico^derocv 

TIGONDEROGV 

Thine eyes grow dreamy in the evening h;ize, 

Ticonderoga. 
Where, in mimic art 

Ephemeral, 
Thy pilgrims hold their j)art 

In festival. 
On what eternal pageants dost thou gaze, 

Ticonderoga ? 

************ 
Battles whose hlood is lihertv. 
Heroes whose dreams are history, 
Imagination hath them wrought. 
Tempering all things to a thought. 
Painting the land, the lake, the sky, 
\A ith pageants of the dreamer's eye. 

So hy my visionary shore. 

Soldier and saint and sagamore 

Live in my shadow evermore : 

Where, rapt in beautv, slee[)s (^hampiain. 

Lulled are the passion and the pain ; 

The lesfend and the race remain. 



From Percy MacKayes " Ticonderoga.^'' 
Courtesy of The Macmillan Company. 



29 



FEB 24 1911 



'yHE TICONDEROGA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

DESIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FURTHER GENEROSITY 
OF THE TICONDEROGA PULP AND PAPER COMPANY, IN THE 
GIFT OF THE PAPER ON WHICH THIS BOOKLET IS PRINTED. 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



FEB 2.^ ^^^' 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

lilllliillillll'llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillll 



014 221 109 9 



